The idea for a hut system on Mosquito Pass emerged after a summer hike in 2016 where the terrain awed Jeff Crane, and his mind latched onto what skiing possibilities might exist if accommodations were available.

Anyone who has driven south from Bishop on California’s scenic Route 395 in the spring has seen it, a thin white line dropping from the right corner of Mt. Williamson’s north face. To skiers of the steep, that thread beckons like a hypodermic needle loaded with raw adrenaline.

On Leap Day 1936, as Spain descended into civil war and Hitler prepared to march troops into the Rhineland, a group of Californians set off from Yosemite Valley for the High Sierra Nevada. They carried heavy wooden skis and 50-pound packs, aiming to make the first winter ascent and descent of 13,114-foot Mt. Lyell, Yosemite National Park’s highest peak.

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Uphill Travel

We’ve compiled a database of U.S. resorts with a little about each individual policy—where and when skinning is allowed, whether or not it’s free during operating hours and the link directly to the resort’s guidelines.